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Women's Justice at the United Nations

Women: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

Women's Justice at the United Nations

International Engagement & Building Peace

Guided by our principles, Unitarian Universalists are called to advocate for international human rights, promoting the inherent worth and dignity of every person. The Women’s Justice Initiative raises awareness and encourages legal action for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). Through this program, the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office (UU-UNO) supports and advocates for the global implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and subsequent resolutions which call for a greater role for women in all aspects of peace and security, as well as other UN initiatives as described below.

In order to effectively accomplish our goals within this program, the UU-UNO is in coalition with progressive religious and secular groups within the NGO community that support women’s rights to SRHR. The coalition aims to ensure that all women have access to safe childbirth procedures, the ability to control when they get pregnant, and have access to sexual health education.

Overview of Women's Rights at the UN

Ever since its founding in 1945, the United Nations has been a strong supporter of the rights of women.

Within the UN’s first year, the Economic and Social Council started the Commission on the Status of Women, dedicated to making policy that promotes gender equality and empowerment of women. This organization has had many accomplishments such as ensuring the use of gender-neutral language in the draft Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In 1979, the General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

At the 1993 General Assembly, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women was adopted. It represents an acknowledgement of Member States’ responsibility to ensure that women’s right to be safe from violence is respected internationally and within their own borders.

On 31 October 2000, the Security Council adopted resolution (S/RES/1325) on women and peace and security. As stated by the UN’s Office of the special adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women: The resolution reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security. It also calls on all parties to take special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse, in situations of armed conflict.

On February 25 2008, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon launched “The Secretary-General’s Global Campaign UNiTE to End Violence Against Women.” In opening the multi-year global campaign, he called violence against women an issue that “cannot wait”.

In July of 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. This marked a historic measure taken as part of the UN reform agenda. UN Women supports inter-governmental bodies in their formation of policies, helps Member States implement these standards, and leads the UN system’s work on gender equality.

Women at the UN

In September of 2014, women filled over one third of seats on the United Nations Security Council. In the past, this council had been primarily filled with men. This historical event sent a strong message about women’s empowerment.

There are currently only 42 women ambassadors out of the 193 Member States of the United Nations. This is compared to 10 women serving as Head of State and 14 serving as Head of Government as of January of 2015. Although these numbers are increasing, there is still a lot of room for improvement.

Sidebar

During the 61st Commission on the Status of Women forum in 2017, the UU-UNO hosted an incredible panel discussion focused on the ways that reproductive justice affects women's economic empowerment. Read a summary on our blog.